As product line strategist and business manager, Joseph’s primary focus is the advancement of Verizon’s video entertainment services – including on-demand, interactive television, digital advertising delivery, video games and interactive program guides – across the company’s subscription television, online and wireless network platforms. Mr. Ambeault has addressed audiences at conferences hosted by CES, NATAS, Digital Hollywood, NCTA, SCTE, IPTV World Forum, and international television and advertising associations on topics ranging from time-shifted television to video-on-demand deployment and revenue assurance. He has also had several articles and commentaries published in television and advertising trade publications throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Prior to joining Verizon, Mr. Ambeault was a director of Broadband Systems for SeaChange International. He received a BA in Philosophy and Computer Science from Brandeis University.

Andres is currently the Chief Information Officer at Austin Energy, where he is responsible for the technology vision, planning, development and operations across the enterprise. Since February of 2003, Andres has been driving a wireless and SOA transformation to deliver a fully-integrated and self-healing enterprise. The current direction for the company is to deliver the first smart grid in the US by 2009. In addition to his responsibilities as CIO, Andres is member of the 8 person executive team, and member of the Innovation and Opportunity Development executive board. Outside of Austin Energy, Andres has the following responsibilities:

• Chairman for the Large Public Power Companies’ CIO Task Force

• Chairman for the Operations, Systems Integration and Modeling Group at the Pecan Street Project

• Board Member for the Center for Commercialization of Electric Technologies

• Board Member for Knowbility, Inc.

• Advisory Board Member for GE Energy

• Advisory Board Member for Sprint

• Advisory Board Member for the MediaTile Company

• Advisory Board Member for Cordys

• Advisory Board Member for KDL Energy

• Advisory Board Member for the Center for Electromechanics at the University of Texas

Andres is a requested speaker on CleanTech, Smart Grid, SOA, Wireless, and Running IT as a Business. He is co-author of Information Technology Leadership and CTO Best Practices Collection. And he is an honoree to many awards, including IT Executive of the Year by the Association of Information Technology Professionals in 2005, Premier 100 IT Leader by Computerworld in 2006, Best in Class of Premier 100 by Computerworld in 2006, CIO 100 Award by CIO Magazine in 2006, InformationWeek 500 by InformationWeek Magazine in 2007 and 2008, Computerworld’s Top 12 Green IT Companies in 2008 and 2009, and Computerworld Honors Laureate in 2009.

Andres has over 23 years of experience and great knowledge of the Energy, Software, Computer, and Wireless industries. Prior to Austin Energy, he held key titles at four start-ups and large companies:

• Chairman and CEO, HillCast Technologies - Wireless financial applications.

• Chairman and CEO, AGEA Corporation - Wireless app server and development tools.

• EVP of Operations, iMark.com - B2B marketplace for industrial equipment.

• Vice President of Operations, Tycho Networks - Tier one regional ISP/CLEC.

• General Manager, Philips Electronics - Wireless and Wired Phone Division.

• General Manager, Personal Computer Business Unit for DEC.

• General Manager, Latin American Operations at Borland Software.

• Regional Manager and Product Manager, UNIX solutions at The Santa Cruz Operation.

• Product Manager, Windows and MS-DOS at Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, WA.

Andres received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas, and has completed executive management programs at the University of Idaho, Stanford University, and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Glenn Lurie is president of Emerging Devices and Resale for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. Lurie leads AT&T’s strategic initiative to drive innovation in bringing wireless connectivity to a host of new consumer electronics devices and applications — including personal computers, internet devices, in-car entertainment and navigation systems, cameras, and machine-to-machine communications solutions.

Lurie also led negotiations with Apple Inc. in bringing the iPhone to AT&T and continues to have responsibilities for the Apple operations. In addition, Lurie has responsibility for National Resale relationships.

Glenn joined the former AT&T Wireless in 1990, and held several sales, marketing and operation positions throughout his tenure. As senior vice president-West Region, he was responsible for the market operations in ten western states, representing more than 40 percent of the company's overall business.

Prior to leading the company’s market operations in the west, Lurie held senior executive positions including Regional Vice President for the California/Hawaii region and Vice President and General Manager for Los Angeles after advancing from a similar position for Arizona.

Prior to coming to the wireless industry, Lurie was a professional soccer player for teams representing Cleveland, Atlanta and Portland.

Lurie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business/Marketing from Seattle Pacific University.

Mitch Singer, CTO, Executive Vice President of New Media and Technology, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.; President, Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE)

Mitch Singer is the Chief Technology Officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and Executive Vice President of New Media and Technology for the studio.

Mr. Singer is responsible for coordinating digital policy across all Sony Pictures’ businesses. He focuses on emerging and disruptive technologies and evaluates and develops adaptive business and models to stay ahead of the technological curve. Mr. Singer is responsible for developing new digital usage models that enable full consumer flexibility regarding how consumers use content, including advanced models that enable copying of premium content on PCs and potable devices, and enabling remote access.

In addition to developing new consumer uses, Mr. Singer is responsible for coordinating Sony Pictures World-wide anti-piracy activities. Managing these tools effectively will enable Sony Pictures to smoothly navigate the transition from analog to digital distribution. He is also responsible for Sony Picture’s involvement in world-wide standard setting activities including, CableLabs, Coral, AACS, DVD CCA and others. These activities form the basis of standardizing the delivery of protected content so that consumers have a wide choice of usage models from which to choose.

Mr. Singer has been involved in digital rights management from the launch of DVD and has been the lead negotiator for Sony Pictures in content protection technology licensing such as Digital Transmission Copy Protection (5C), Copy Protection for Pre-Recorded and Recordable Media (4C), High Definition Content Protection (HDCP), Blu-Ray Recordable and many others.

In June, 2008, Mr. Singer was made President of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) LLC, an international and cross-industry consortium of more than 20 leading companies. The DECE will define and build a new digital media framework using industry standards, and will enable consumers to acquire and play content across a wide range of services and devices.

Sanket Amberkar, Marketing Manager, Network Systems Solutions, Cisco

Sanket Amberkar is responsible for developing and executing the strategy for the Catalyst switching portfolio. His area of focus is network infrastructure for advanced and emerging technologies, and their business impact.

Prior to joining Cisco, Sanket was an Engineering Group manager at Delphi Corp. responsible for vehicle dynamics and a frequently invited speaker to industry conferences and events. He has published several papers and holds ten U.S. patents.

Sanket holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering degree and an MBA -- both from the University of Michigan.
 

Bruce Anderson, General Manager, Global Electronics Industry, IBM

Bruce A. Anderson is the General Manager of the Global Electronics Industry for IBM. Bruce is responsible for over US $4 billion in products and services that IBM provides to electronics industry participants, from semiconductor and telecommunications companies to medical device and consumer electronics makers.

Bruce has spent over 25 years assisting companies in their use of information technology to solve their business problems and gain competitive advantage as a management consultant to the electronics industry. He was previously a Vice President and Partner of IBM's Global Business Services unit, where he led a supply chain practice of 850 consultants. This practice consulted on supply chain strategy, process re-engineering and systems implementation, and was the largest commercial sector practice in IBM.

Bruce has authored and contributed to many thought leadership papers and solution offerings in the electronics industry. They are available at: ibm.com/electronics. Bruce is an active member of the Consumer Electronics Supply Chain Academy Advisory Board.

Bruce, his wife Sara and their three children reside in Chicago, where he serves on the board of Junior Achievement of Chicago and Irving Park Carlson Ministries. He remains active with the College of Business Supply Chain Management program at his alma mater, the University of Illinois.

As the head of Business Development, Sean Besser is responsible for guiding the corporate growth of Macrovision, including identifying, expanding and managing its strategic partnerships. Sean's current focus is on the company's digital content strategy. One of his key goals is to enable consumer TV viewing experiences to be more compelling and interactive by bringing downloadable video, music, photos, games, etc. directly to the TV directly through the guide.

Sean brings to Macrovision nearly 15 years of experience in the delivery of entertainment and related services, including work at TiVo, Fox Sports, NBC, EchoStar (The DISH Network), and most recently Movielink, where he headed up all of the company’s business development and strategic partnership activities.

Sean holds an M.B.A. from the Haas Graduate School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and both a J.D. and B.A from the University of Southern California.

Stephen Blum, President, Tellus Venture Associates

Stephen Blum is president of Tellus Venture Associates, a business development and market analysis consultancy for the digital media and telecommunications industries. He is a 30-year industry veteran and recognized as an expert in developing new digital consumer products, wireless and fiber optic broadband systems, and satellite broadcasting platforms and services. His accomplishments include playing key roles in the development and launch of DBS and satellite radio systems, including DirecTv. He is the author of seven books on the Internet and satellite broadcasting and is a frequent contributor to professional journals and industry events.

Located on California's Monterey Peninsula, Tellus Venture Associates serves start-up companies, established corporations, government agencies and private communities in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim.

Blum is Vice President ex officio of the Society of Satellite Professionals International, a member of the New Zealand Wireless Forum, a director of the Rotary Club of Monterey Pacific and a past Vice President of the World Affairs Council of the Monterey Bay Area. He holds an A.B. in History from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.A. in East Asia Studies from the University of Washington, and an M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas, and has received several major professional honors, including the PRSA Silver Anvil and the Ellen B. Scripps Fellowship. He is a nationally ranked triathlete and a multiple Ironman finisher.

Jeff Bonin, Vice President & GM, Alticast

As Vice President and General Manager for Alticast, Jeff Bonin oversees the company's North American operations, business development and marketing activities, and is focused on expanding the company’s position as a leading provider of open standards technologies that enable consumer electronics manufacturers to more quickly bring to market high-definition and iTV home entertainment products. Prior to Alticast, Jeff was director of Business Development at Vidiom Systems, where he managed product development and key relationships with leading consumer electronics manufacturers. He has been a frequent speaker on topics including emerging iTV technologies at tradeshows and conferences around the world including TV of Tomorrow, Milia, IBC, NAB, JavaOne and NCTA.

Brandon Brown, CEO, Zodiac Interactive

Brandon Brown joined Zodiac Interactive as CEO in 2009. Responsible for overseeing new grown and identifying new business opportunities, Mr. Brown comes to Zodiac as veteran of the IT industry. The companies Brown has helped build have delivered revenues up to $95 million annually, while achieving growth rates of 40 to 200 percent per annum, and market cap values of more than $600 million. Brown also held sales executive positions at GE Financial, Lockheed Martin and other multinational firms. Prior to Zodiac, Mr. Brown has held executive positions at start-up companies like Sigaba, a provider of secure messaging solutions, and Persistence Software, a database middleware company acquired by Progress Software. Mr. Brown holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's College and advanced studies in Finance and Brokerage Operations at New York University.

Torey Bruno, Director of Business Development, joined Via Licensing Corporation (a subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories) in early 2007. Before Via, Mr. Bruno was responsible for North American business development for a systems software company based in Oxford England. Mr. Bruno also worked at startup E-Stamp Corporation as their Director of Program Management where he was responsible for the technical direction and management of cryptographic, security, and other core technology implementations. While there, he helped define standards for advanced postal technology and assisted with international business development. He also spent over 10 years at Adobe Systems in a variety of roles including Product Management, Engineering Management, and Program Management. Mr. Bruno also worked for Xerox Engineering Systems as a Product Manager responsible for a range of imaging products and technologies. Mr. Bruno earned his degree in Management from St. Mary's College of Moraga California and is a member of LES and AUTM.

Geoff Burke, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing, Calix

Geoff has over 20 years of experience across a diverse range of high tech fields. Currently the Senior Director of Corporate Marketing at Calix, he is responsible for the Calix brand and company messaging worldwide. Prior to Calix, Geoff was Director of Marketing Services at Motorola/Next Level Communications, and has held senior marketing, strategy, and operational roles at The McKenna Group, KPMG Consulting (now BearingPoint), and Oracle Corporation. Geoff holds a Masters in Business Administration degree in Marketing and Strategy from the Anderson School at UCLA, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA.

Jon Burr, VP, Customer Experience and Operations, CrossLoop, Inc.

Jon's focus and passion is building the new order of online services at CrossLoop. Jon currently directs one of the largest communities of crowdsourced technical experts in the world. Jon’s experience spans all facets of product development, operations, service delivery, and service support. Prior to CrossLoop, Jon was a Vice President of Product Development where he managed all customer facing systems and operations including: development, legacy systems, customer support, quality assurance, and outsourced groups. As a Director in the software industry, Jon launched the company's support-focused Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management applications. Early in his career, Jon concentrated on implementing client solutions as senior management in a “Big Four” consultancy.

Jon has extensive experience in the support industry successfully implementing major systems, process excellence, and management/strategy improvement. He has advised over 10% of the Fortune 100 and many other top tier companies on customer support strategy, operations, self service, and software solutions. Jon has worked at two previous startup companies prior to CrossLoop. In addition, he has also delivered very large software deployments and process improvement efforts. Jon’s technical concentration has always been with the web, and he has worked on web-based applications since 1994. Jon has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Bradley University, is a Bradley Advisory Board member, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

With over 15 years of Business development, sales and management experience, Duane is responsible of all OEM sales and marketing in North America. Prior to joining Jungo, Duane served in Sales Management roles in the telecommunications industry working for carriers such as BT and MCI, Duane continued in telecom while working for Intel and Continuous Computing. Duane earned his BA in Business Management from St. Mary's College.
 

Steve Cashman, Chief Strategy Officer, Exceptional Innovation 

Cashman is a sales and business development executive with diverse industry background. He has a lengthy record of success in sales management, direct sales, retail sales, marketing strategy, and business development. A former custom integrator himself, Cashman has positioned Exceptional Innovation advantageously in multiple verticals. He is a self-described “lover of new ideas,” and brings intensity and energy to every project.

Chenyi Chiu, Strategic Program Manager, HD-PLC Alliance

Chenyi Chiu is the Strategic Program Manager of HD-PLC Alliance Office of North America located in U.S.A. HD-PLC Alliance Office of North America has devoted 5 years to promote the high-speed PLC technology (HD-PLC) developed by Panasonic Communications Co., Ltd. Chenyi Chiu is also the Technical Engineering Manager of Panasonic Communications Co., Ltd. Liaison Office of North America leading wide range of communication technology research projects. With the ten years of experience in networking industry, Chenyi Chiu is now assigned as the project leader of Strategic Alliance Promotion to establish the global strategic partnership and create business opportunities for HD-PLC Alliance. Chenyi Chiu received his Computer Science Bachelor's degree from Nation Chiao-Tung University in Taiwan in 1997, MBA degree and Master of Engineering Science degree from the California State University of San Jose in 2006.

Paul Dawes, CEO, iControl Networks

Paul has spent over 20 years in Silicon Valley creating, managing, and selling high-tech products and services. He has led sales teams in the broadband, enterprise and entertainment markets, and driven product management for both embedded systems and enterprise. Most recently, Paul was a partner at Lockwood Capital, a technology investment team where he held the role of SVP, Worldwide Sales & Marketing for Liberate Technologies and helped drive the sale of Liberate to Comcast and Cox. Paul also led the sales team that closed deals with the largest US cable operators, enabling Liberate's 1999 IPO.

Prior to Liberate, Paul was VP, Sales & Marketing for VerdiSoft, a mobile software provider that has become the foundation of Yahoo's Connected Life division (2005 acquisition). Earlier, Paul held product and business development roles at Gain Technologies, Tom Siebel's multimedia software company (1997 Sybase purchase). Paul started his career in software engineering, product marketing and sales at Integrated Systems, Inc., an embedded systems company (1990 IPO).

Paul holds a BSME degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MSME from Stanford University.

Rolf De Vegt Director, Technical Standards Qualcomm

Mr. de Vegt is Director of Technology Standards in Qualcomm’s Connectivity Technology group at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. His focus is on the business, marketing strategy and standards aspects of future generation connectivity technologies. After earning a Master’s Degree from Twente University in the Netherlands, Mr. de Vegt entered a career in Management Consulting in the High Tech and Telecommunications Industry. In 2001, he co-founded Airgo Networks Inc., a start-up company based in Palo Alto CA. Airgo was acquired by Qualcomm in December 2006.
 

Jim Denney, VP, Product Marketing, TiVo Inc.

As Vice President of product marketing at TiVo, Jim Denney is responsible for defining TiVo's hardware platform and service direction, strategy, and requirements. During his tenure at TiVo, he has worked closely with internal resources as well as partner companies like Toshiba and Pioneer on the cooperative development of products. Mr. Denney represents TiVo in major product announcements and has represented TiVo in testimony before Congress on the issue of fair use of content.

Prior to joining TiVo, Mr. Denney held leadership positions in product marketing at iBEAM Broadcasting/WilTel Communications and SGI, focusing on the creation of distribution networks for streaming media and media production tools for both enterprise and entertainment applications. He was involved in 3D animation at FTI Corporation and started his career as a systems consultant at Andersen Consulting.

Mr. Denney has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. He also received an Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for his contributions to the development of the TiVo Service.

Vijay Desai, Founder, CEO, Aceurity, Inc.

Mr. Vijay Desai, is founder, CEO/CMO of Aceurity Inc, a fabless IC/IP technology company to enable industry’s best Wireless HDTV/IPTV/HD-DVR Ecosystem for digital home entertainment. Prior to that, CEO/CMO of Silicon Monitor Inc (SMI), a company he founded in early 2001, which developed innovative motion blur removal (LCD) technology blended in to “PiXel Processor”, to enable “Smart Panel™” which emerged as today’s Digital Photo Frame (DFM). He has over 25 years of DSP, Storage, Video, Wireless, Display centric IC/systems, - architecture/definition, technical & strategic marketing/sales experience.

Prior to SMI, Mr. Desai co-founded Sage Inc., a highly successful Scalar IC Company, serving in various capacities including VP & GM of a profitable Systems BU and an Executive VP, IC Marketing. In late 1999, Sage successfully completed an IPO (NASDQ: SAGI) and in late 2000, Sage acquired Faroudja Labs (NASDAQ:FDJA) for over $150M. Eventually, Sage was in turn acquired by Genesis Microchip for over $400M in early 2002. Genesis Micro Chip is now merged in to ST Micro.

Prior to Sage, Mr. Desai gained over 15 yrs of FAE, technical marketing and sales management experience at Intel, AT&T, Siemens and Sharp (LCD/DSP) and have strong business connections in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and design centers in India regions. He received several Marketing/Sales Leadership awards from AT&T and Sage.

Mr. Desai received his BS-EE from MSU University – Baroda, India and an MS-CS, from the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ and an MBA from the University of Phoenix, San Jose, CA.

Christopher Deutschen, Senior Manager, Product & Business Development, Direct Energy

As Senior Manager of Business and Product Development, Chris Deutschen is responsible for developing and executing the strategy to deliver energy efficient products and services to Direct Energy’s Mass Markets customers across North America. This includes a specific focus on home energy management, smart grid, and disruptive technologies. Chris has more than 10 years of experience in the areas of retail power and deregulated energy markets, including previous positions in strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, operational improvement, and strategic sourcing.

In April Chris and Direct Energy’s Vice President of Business and Product Development David Dollihite unveiled a new energy management dashboard solution for consumers and service providers with the focus on reducing energy consumption and lowering energy costs. The solution, developed in partnership with Exceptional Innovation, was showcased as part of the Connected Suburban Home within the Broadband Nation Exhibit at The Cable Show '09 and runs as an application on the cable industry's tru2way™ common platform.

Prior to joining Direct Energy, Chris was with Alvarez & Marsal Business Consulting as Manager of Strategy and Corporate Solutions, where he worked with executives and senior staff of Fortune 500 companies to develop and execute strategies that identify market opportunities and process improvements designed to increase revenue and reduce costs. Prior to that, he was at Reliant Energy for five years as an MBA associate, and later as Manager of Strategy and Sourcing.

Chris holds an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University and a BSBA in Management and Marketing from Georgetown University.
 

Chris Dobrec, Sr. Director Strategy & Business Development, Cisco Systems

Chris Dobrec is the Senior Director Strategy & Business Development for Cisco’s Consumer Business Group. Chris is responsible for global corporate strategy, business development, and new-market development initiatives. He identifies specific new areas of growth for Cisco in the consumer market, both organic and through partnerships and M&A. In addition, Chris is responsible for partnering with Consumer Business Group product development and sales leaders to identify unique growth opportunities and build associated "go-to-market" strategies.

In his career, Chris has developed products, defined corporate strategies and navigated new market transitions. He also has a technical background in network design, architecture and engineering as well as product development and management. Prior to his current responsibilities, he held the position of Director Business Development reporting directly to Cisco's Chief Development Officer, in a cross-company leadership role covering both service provider and consumer market development, while leading go-to-market activities impacting Cisco’s development organization. In his 14 plus year tenure at Cisco he has also held leadership positions in sales, channel operations and technical marketing.

In addition to his time at Cisco, Chris has held several senior leadership positions at successful startup organizations such as Kalpana and Ipsilon Networks in the areas of sales, marketing, and engineering.

Brian Donnelly, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Icron

Brian Donnelly has been managing sales and marketing teams for high technology companies for 16 years. Mr. Donnelly's innovative sales and marketing programs have helped Corinex Communications, Skillsoft, and Allan Crawford Associates achieve the #1 market share in their respective industries.

Mr. Donnelly is a recent addition to the Icron executive team that has substantial experience in the home connectivity space. In his most recent position as a member of Corinex Communications executive team, Mr. Donnelly helped build the company into the market leader in the Powerline communications industry through a 40 fold increase in sales in 4 years.

Mr. Donnelly was a former board member and Chairman of the Universal Powerline Association (UPA) and the previous Chairman of the UPA Marketing Working Group and a frequent invited speaker on access and home networking technologies. Donnelly holds an honours degree in Electrical Engineering from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.

In his current role, Ajay is responsible for identifying and implementing new business models and strategies around distribution and monetization of digital entertainment content across Online (transactional VOD, EST, Streaming), Mobile and Interactive (Gaming) platforms.

Previously, Ajay was the Director of Product Management at Hewlett Packard’s Digital Entertainment Services group, which specialized in a set of foundational technologies and operational capabilities to provide content owners, aggregators and advertisers with the ability to create, manage and re-purpose “digital masters” for commercial transactions.

Before HP, Ajay headed the Product team at ClickStar, an online entertainment portal. There he managed various facets of the consumer product launch and offering including operating P&L, promotional programs and revenue maximization strategies based on studio licensing deals.

Prior to ClickStar, Ajay worked in the digital anti-piracy field at MediaSentry. He was responsible for managing the scanning/investigation and enforcement products and services for the major motion picture studios. Large, strategic clients included Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Twentieth Century Fox, Turner Broadcasting, RIAA, and the MPAA.

Mr. Dugar holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Business from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Mike Ehlenberger, Vice President of Channel Sales, Actiontec Electronics, Inc.

As VP of Channel Sales for Actiontec Electronics, Michael oversees Actiontec’s wholesale distribution, retail, and strategic channel businesses within North America. With over 17 years of experience in technology sales and marketing, Michael has led Actiontec's expansion of its Telco partnerships into key retail, distribution, and indirect channel opportunities.

Recently appointed Chairman of the MoCA Alliance’s Consumer Task Force, Michael is helping drive consumer awareness of MoCA solutions for in-home applications such as video distribution, gaming, and high-bandwidth applications. Actiontec plays a key role in the MoCA ecosystem, as one of the highest volume manufacturers of MoCA enabled routing platforms and devices.

Jaime Fink, Vice President of Technology and Strategy, 2Wire

As vice president of technology and strategy at 2Wire, Jaime Fink is responsible for refining and implementing 2Wire’s technical vision, overseeing the strategic development of managed IP based products and services for the digital home. While overseeing the deployment of over 25 million managed residential gateways to date, he has also served as a leading industry visionary, defining the role of the residential gateway in end-to-end IPTV and VoIP architectures. Over the past 5 years he has also led 2Wire's industry standards efforts to drive key residential gateway requirements in the DSL Forum and HGI, and played a key role in developing the highly successful DSL Forum TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol.

Meir Friedlander, CEO, Eyecon Technologies, Inc.

Meir Friedlander is President and CEO at Eyecon Technologies, Inc. He is a Digital Home and Interactive TV veteran, previously the CEO and founder at Vsoft and an Executive at SeamBI, Amdocs and Digital Equipment. Mr. Friedlander has 25+ years of experience in leadership, execution, operations, strategic vision, and investments, a pioneer of IPTV, VoD, and Networked PVR at Digital Equipment Corporation. Meir has a strong high tech background in various industries: Telecom, Media Service Providers, Advertisements, Internet Content and Home Entertainment. Meir has held CEO and executive roles in start-ups and large organizations; Amdocs Inc, a market leader in customer care and billing systems for network service providers; Vsoft LTD. Founder and CEO at Mediacomp and VSoft. Mr. Friedlander graduated Magna Cum Laude from Tel Aviv University with a MSC in Computer Science and BSc in Computer Science and Mathematics. Mr. Friedlander holds 5 U.S. patents.

Jonathan Gaines, Senior Vice President - Sales, Xeriton Corporation/BluePhone

Jonathan Gaines serves as Senior Vice President of Sales, leading our global consumer and small business sectors. In this role, Jonathan is responsible for leading the sales team to execute channel partnerships and developing strategies that accelerate revenue.

Jonathan joined Xeriton in March 2009. He brings over 20 years of leadership experience in worldwide sales, marketing, building brands, new product launches and team building to Xeriton. Under his sales leadership he has achieved record results and established global partnerships with leading Telcos, Retailers, MSOs, OEMs and Sofware Companies. Prior to joining us, Jonathan held Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing positions at PlumChoice, iYogi and SquareAnswer, where his charter was to execute and manage both domestic and international sales and marketing initiatives.

Jonathan earned an M.B.A. from Hofstra University and a B.S. in Business Administration from New York University.

Jackson Gates, Director of Business Development, Pandora

Jackson Gates is a Director of Business Development at Pandora where he is responsible for partnerships with new connected platforms and content providers. Prior to Pandora, Jackson was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Venrock and spent five years as a venture capital investor with Vulcan Capital and Lehman Brothers Venture Capital. He received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and his bachelors degree from Georgetown University.
 

Ben Geller, Senior Director of Marketing, Motive Product Group, Alcatel-Lucent

As sr. director, product marketing for the Motive Product Division within Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Software Group, Ben Geller is responsible for defining and executing go-to-market strategies for the division’s broadband and mobile service management solutions. Ben came to Alcatel-Lucent through the Company’s acquisition of Motive, Inc., in 2008.

Ben joined Motive, Inc. in 2000 as an Industry Marketing Manager from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was a principle consultant in the customer relationship management practice within the firm’s information, communications and entertainment discipline.

Ben holds a bachelors degree in management information systems from the University of Houston.

Noam Geri, Co-founder, Vice President Marketing & Business Development, AMIMON

Noam Geri co-founded AMIMON, a leading provider of wireless HDTV semiconductor solutions, following a 12-year career in communication technology holding various marketing, business development and technical positions. Until 2003 Geri served as strategic marketing and business development manager at Texas Instruments, Cable Broadband Communications business unit, with responsibility for marketing and business development of new technologies and standards in the broadband access and home networking space. Geri joined Texas Instruments through the 1999 acquisition of Libit Signal Processing Ltd., a semiconductor startup developing cable modem chipsets. Prior to Libit, Geri served five years in an elite R&D unit of the Israeli Defense Forces. He holds an M.B.A from Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, as well as an M.Sc and a B.Sc in Electrical Engineering from Tel-Aviv University.

Andrea Goldsmith, Co-Founder and CTO, Quantenna Communications

Dr. Andrea Goldsmith is co-founder and CTO of Quantenna and is also a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University. She is a recognized expert in the field of wireless communications and networks, with an emphasis on MIMO systems, adaptive transmission, and QoS for wireless applications. Her prior experience includes both academic and industry positions with the California Institute of Technology, Memorylink Corporation (where she was chief scientist), AT&T Bell Laboratories and Maxim Technologies.

Dr. Goldsmith has received numerous honors for her work on wireless and MIMO communications, while focusing her attention more recently to solving wireless reliability and performance issues. She is an IEEE Fellow and Distinguished Lecturer, and is on the Board of Governors for both the IEEE Communications and Information Theory Societies. Dr. Goldsmith has been granted one patent with 11 patents pending.

Pankaj Gupta, Manager, Market Management - Service Providers, Cisco Systems

Pankaj Gupta is the Senior Manager for IP Video marketing in Cisco System’s service provider marketing group. Having an in-depth knowledge of the market and technologies, he is responsible for Cisco’s global IPTV and online video strategy and marketing for service providers. Previously, Mr. Gupta led Cisco’s marketing efforts for the broadband and Service Provider edge routing markets. He holds an MBA and a B.S. in Engineering.

Mike Harris is a serial entrepreneur who has led numerous venture backed companies in the digital entertainment space. As CEO and co-founder of AnySource Media, Harris is working with a world-class team of executives in building a leader in Connected HDTV technology.

Prior to AnySource, Harris was a founder and CTO of Ravisent Technologies Inc., a market-leading provider of software technology to the digital entertainment industry. Ravisent rapidly grew to over 200 employees and received numerous awards including the “9th Fastest Growing Company in the United States from 1994-1998.” Customers included nine of the top ten PC companies and many top-tier consumer electronics makers. The company completed a successful IPO, reaching a market capitalization of nearly $1B. Ravisent’s CE Division was acquired by STMicroelectronics, one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, where Mr. Harris became Group Vice President, Global Software Strategy. After STMicroelectronics, Harris served as President of Digital 5, a venture backed software provider enabling streaming of media content within the connected home. Harris is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in Computer and Electrical Engineering.

Harris has appeared in numerous publications including Entrepreneur Magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Tech and Philadelphia Business Journal, and has spoken at conferences including CES, Digital Hollywood, CONNECTIONS™, the Intel Developer Forum, WinHEC, and CommVerge.

David Henry serves as NETGEAR's Sr Director of Product Marketing for Home Products. David has worldwide responsibility for the product strategy, development, and delivery of NETGEAR’s home products including wired and wireless routers, dsl modems and gateways, powerline networking, and multimedia products. David is also responsible for the product launch and outbound marketing activities for the consumer business.

Most recently, he was the product line manager for consumer routers and advanced wireless (802.11n) products. David joined NETGEAR in 2004, prior to which he was a senior product manager for the high technology vertical application at Siebel Systems (Oracle). David's professional experience also includes business process and information technology consulting with Deloitte Consulting in San Francisco. David holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis on Signal Processing from the University of Washington and an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

Chris Hock, Senior VP, Product Management, BlackArrow

Chris Hock is an experienced technology professional in the field of multiplatform media distribution. At BlackArrow, Hock helms all product management, strategy and design for the company’s advanced advertising system for new television platforms. Previously group product manager for the Dynamic Media Organization at Adobe Systems, Hock managed the Flash video delivery business and led the creation and launch of various media-delivery related products and services including Flash Media Server, Flash Media Encoder and the Flash Video Streaming Service. Hock joined Adobe in 2005 through the acquisition of Macromedia. Prior to his work with Macromedia, Hock co-founded RedSpark, Inc., an Autodesk venture that developed hosted enterprise collaboration solutions. He also spent eight years with Autodesk in senior product management and sales engineer roles. Hock was named one of the "Top 40 IPTV Movers and Shakers of 2007" by DailyIPTV and one of 25 “2008 Streaming Media All-Stars” by Streaming Media Magazine, and is a frequent public speaker at industry conferences.

Jim Hunter, CTO and Chief Architect, 4Home

Jim Hunter has been actively engaged the home control and home automation industry for over 18 years. Mr. Hunter was a founder of 4Home and currently serves as the company’s Chief Architect & CTO. His vision has guided the 4Home team as they have created the next generation home control services platform.

He currently leads the company in its development of HAN solutions for SmartGrid applications. Prior to founding 4Homemedia, Mr. Hunter founded Premise Systems in 1997. Premise was an early pioneer in network-based home automation software, and was the first IP based open architecture home control system.

Mr. Hunter is regarded as an industry fellow and outspoken technical evangelist. He holds several patents in the field of user interface and home control networks. He actively participates in standards bodies, and represents 4HomeMedia in CEA, Cablelabs, HANA and Lonmark working groups.

Brent Hurley is a Manager on the Strategic Partner Development team at YouTube. As the first full-time employee at YouTube, Brent has served in a variety of roles throughout the life of the company, including Director of Finance and Operations. He is currently focused on YouTube's syndication efforts, enabling off-web interaction that includes video viewing and video uploading on a range of consumer electronic devices, including cameras, IP-connected TVs, and game consoles.

Prior to YouTube, Brent worked for several years as a securities trader at Fisher Investments, a multi-billion dollar asset management firm. His startup roots trace back to early work at PayPal. Brent holds a BS in finance and philosophy from Albright College.

Richard Irving, Managing Partner, Pond Venture Partners

Based in Silicon Valley, Richard co-founded Pond in 1997 and brings over 25 years' experience in venture capital, business management, marketing and engineering in technology companies including AT&T Bell Labs, AMD, Brooktree, and Irving International. Starting as a chip designer at Bell Labs, and strategic marketing manager at AMD, Richard later managed multiple business units at Brooktree with full P&L responsibility both prior to and following the company's initial public offering. Richard has been involved in numerous IPOs, acquisitions, and private financings. Richard's expertise includes semiconductors, hardware, and wireless. Richard serves as Director of Acco Semiconductor, Gigle Semiconductor, and Nanotech. Richard has a B.Sc. (1st Class Hons.) and an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Manchester University.

Vipin Jain, President and CEO, Retrevo

Vipin Jain is the Founder and CEO of Retrevo; the world’s largest online matchmaker for people and electronics. With over 17 years of experience, Vipin specializes in launching and developing innovative products and companies. Prior to Retrevo, Vipin was the driving force behind the Extreme Networks Wireless product line.As one of the co-founders of Telseon,Vipinmanaged all aspects of pre and post-sales engineering support, OSS/BSS development and architecture, deploying fiber-based Ethernet networks in more than 20 metropolitan areas in the U.S. in less than one year. Earlier in his career he was a member of the CTOs office at 3Com Corporation.

Vipin is the inventor of IEEE 802.1X, the security protocol in wireless and wireline Ethernet, and has been awarded 13 patents. Vipin has a graduate degree in Physics and undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from BITS, Pilani, India. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family and using Retrevo to get the most out of his home theatre system.

Industry Expertise/or Areas of Expertise: Starting, building, launching and leading high growth technology businesses. Consumer internet, mobility and software products.

Braxton has driven innovation and growth in senior management roles with technology and media companies, most recently as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Tandberg Television (an Ericsson Company) where he led the rapid expansion of the company into the North American television market and video on demand (VOD) software business. There he launched and secured key customers for Tandberg's pioneering television distribution, management and advertising products, contributing to the acquisition of Tandberg by Ericsson for $1.2 billion in 2007. Braxton joined Tandberg through their $120 million acquisition of venture-backed startup N2 Broadband, where he drove key deployments of the company's on-demand software in nearly every VOD site in North America. Previously, Braxton worked at Cox as director of product strategy for the cable division and GM in the interactive media division, where he launched the first broadband internet content service in partnership with @Home. Braxton's first tech startup experience was as the head of commercial services with Primenet, an internet startup purchased by GlobalCenter. Braxton received his Bachelor's degree in engineering from Dartmouth College.
 

Brian Johnson is the Senior Vice President for mBlox, the global leader in SMS message delivery and associated financial transaction processing. In this position he oversees the commercial operations in the Americas as well as the Asia Pacific region, with a focus on the mobile entertainment and commerce space.

Johnson’s business career, spanning nearly 25 years, has focused on early stage companies that are leading new category creations. Johnson has participated in two successful public offerings and one M&A sale to a public company.

Prior to joining mBlox, Johnson was a Senior Vice President at ATG, a GE company, and also served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Pac-West Telecomm, a VOIP service company. In addition, he has also held various executive level positions at companies such as Comverse, Harris and Winstar.

Johnson is the former Executive Director of the California First Foundation and former Board Member for a sales force automation firm. He currently serves on the Board for Asia First Group, an on-line gaming and localization services firm in the mobile space. Johnson holds an MBA and Bachelor of Science in Financial Management.

Jim Johnson, President & CEO, uControl

Mr. Johnson co-founded uControl in 2005 and serves as President, CEO and Chairman of the Board. Most recently, he was the Vice President and General Manager of the Service Provider Business Unit of TippingPoint, which was acquired by 3Com in February 2005. Prior to TippingPoint, Mr. Johnson was Vice President of Sales at BroadJump, which was acquired by Motive Communications in February 2003. Prior to BroadJump, he served as National Sales Manager for Cisco Systems ADSL Portfolio. Before Cisco's acquisition of NetSpeed, he served as the Director of North American Telco Sales for NetSpeed. Prior to NetSpeed, Mr. Johnson held both domestic and international assignments with Alcatel Telecom in sales, product planning, product management and research and development. Mr. Johnson also serves on the Board of Directors for Boundless Network and holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University.

Scott Kelliher, Category Director, Telecommunications & Technology, Platform A/AOL

Scott Kelliher joined Platform-A in September of 2008, bringing over 15 years of Sales, Marketing, and Brand Development experience. Currently as Telecommunications & Technology Category Director, Scott works across numerous groups in the Platform-A and AOL to shape strategy and product development for his category constituents. As an expert within the Telecommunications industry, Scott actively participates on panels and speaks at a many of industry events offering attendees real-life examples of how to increase ROI by incorporating mobile into media buys.

Before arriving at Platform-A, Scott was the Director of Mobile Media Services for Virgin Mobile, where he oversaw development and sales of different programs available to media partners across the country. These included Sugar Mama, Virgin Mobile’s platform designed to allow customers to interact with different types of advertising creative in exchange for free airtime, on-deck WAP banner ads powered by Third Screen Media, and custom content integrations. Prior to Virgin Mobile, Kelliher was the National Director of Sales for The Lodge, one of the country’s foremost providers of original music for television commercials.

Scott received his degree from Bates College in Lewiston, ME and lives in New Jersey with his wife and son.

Fred has more than two decades of successful management experience in establishing and building highly responsive, customer-focused businesses, and brings an extensive background in the Fortune 1000, Internet and web-based businesses to his role. Most recently, Fred served as the VP and GM of Exclaim’s consumer, reseller and related Web service lines of business. He held key relationships with Adobe, Disney, Earthlink and many other companies domestically and internationally. Prior to this role, Fred was the Chairman and CEO of SoftWatch Ltd., an Israel-based healthcare technology firm focused on web communities for the pharmaceutical and life sciences markets. Prior to Softwatch, Fred was VP of Professional Services for iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions (a Netscape & Sun Microsystems joint venture), where he had responsibility for managing and expanding iPlanet’s professional services business throughout the Americas. In this role he was responsible for the overall construction and subsequent operation of more than 200 web presences for Fortune 1000 firms to venture capital-backed startups. Fred holds a BS in Marketing and is a Candidate for an MBA, Accounting, University of Phoenix. A father of two, water sports enthusiast and sometime golfer, Fred and his wife maintain a horse farm in New York State with a small, but growing, stable of horses.

Kazuhiro Kitagawa is an associate professor of the Graduate School of Media & Governance, Keio University, Japan. He is one of the founders and vice-chairman of the Peer-to-peer Universal Computing Consortium (PUCC) and its chairman for PUCC Imaging Protocol Working Group. He joined Keio University in April 2000. From April 2000 to March 2005, he also worked for the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). He was the chair for W3C’s Mobile Access Interests Group and launched W3C’s Device Independence Activity and Working Group to achieve universal Web access from various types of devices. His research interests are digital media and document dissemination and processing, information filtering and computer network, particularly P2P network for small devices.

Steve Koepp is Senior Manager of Business Development, for the TV, Video, and Music business, at Microsoft Corporation. In this role, he is responsible for developing the OEM and silicon partner ecosystem needed to deliver the award-winning Microsoft(r) Mediaroom(tm) IPTV experience to consumers. Steve works closely with set-top box OEM manufacturers and SoC suppliers. He also plays a key role in defining the next generation silicon and OEM strategy to support Microsoft Mediaroom and to drive alignment across TVM. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2006, Steve held senior business development and sales positions managing major accounts and brokering strategic deals. While with UXComm, Steve negotiated agreements leading to Intel becoming a Series A investor. At Wind River Systems, Steve led the global account team for Nortel and negotiated a worldwide subscription licensing agreement. During his time with Integrated Systems, Steve closed an agreements with PowerTV, Delphi, HP, and other major corporations, to standardize device development using ISI's development tools. Steve holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Marketing from the University of Northern Iowa.

Art Lancaster co-founded Affinegy in March 2003 and has served as CTO since, where he is responsible for technology strategy and product development. Affinegy provides unique software solutions that have been architected to easily connect, secure and manage Digital Lifestyle Networks. Spanning – for the first time – both emerging devices and previously installed, networking gear in the consumer home. Affinegy software has been deployed by some of the world’s largest broadband service providers, who use our solutions to deliver “it just works” Digital Lifestyle experiences to their end customers. Prior to Affinegy Art was director of strategy and business development for Motorola's Streamaster business where Art established strategies leading to the world's most advanced interactive broadband gateway system. He has a BSEE, cum laude, from the University of Missouri, an MSEE from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from the University of Texas.

Michael Lantz, CEO, Accedo Broadband

Michael Lantz is the CEO and co-founder of Accedo Broadband, a leading provider of interactive and long tail on demand services for IPTV and Connected TV. Accedo brings its portfolio of interactive service to more than 4 million IPTV and Connected TV households on more than 25 markets globally. Michael has more than 10 years experience from emerging broadband TV technologies, and the convergence between the telecom and media industries. Prior to founding Accedo in 2004, Mr Lantz was a senior management consultant responsible for broadband media services at Nordic telecom and media consultancy Digiscope. Michael holds degrees in Engineering Physics and Business Administration from Lund University, Sweden.

Craig Lee serves as vice president of Ortiva Wireless, a pioneer in dynamic delivery of rich mobile content. In this role, he leads Ortiva’s strategic marketing, business development, and partner initiatives as the company grows its global customer base of wireless service providers. Prior to joining Ortiva, Lee held a number of executive roles, including Vice President, Marketing, and Vice President, Sales for Nuera Communications (acquired by AudioCodes Ltd.), provider of packet voice equipment. In addition, he spent five years with Ameritech Corporation in corporate strategy and development. Lee has more than 20 years of experience in corporate marketing, product management and business development. He's been a featured speaker at industry conferences, including the TelcoTV, Western Cable Show, Internet Telephony, Supercomm and NTCA. Lee was previously on the Board of Directors for Telogy Networks (acquired by Texas Instruments), MusicNet (acquired by Real Networks), and currently is an advisor to ResellerManager.Net. He holds a BA in economics from Williams College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Michelle Leyden Li serves as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development and General Manager of the Home Control business unit at Zilog. In her marketing and business development role, she is responsible for all aspects of marketing worldwide including product marketing, strategic product planning and definition, market research and branding, and new business development. In her GM role, she is responsible for driving Zilog’s Home Control business worldwide including Crimzon Connects Technology. She is also responsible for the human resources function for the company. Michelle has over 14 years of experience in the semiconductor/high technology industry. She spent over 10 years at Intel Corporation where she held a variety of senior management positions in marketing and business development including Director of Business Development for Intel’s Digital Health Group. Prior to Zilog, Michelle was the V.P. of Marketing and Business Development at Pedersen Media Group, one of the bay areas preeminent creative media agencies where she developed new media strategies for Fortune 500 companies. Michelle has a Bachelor Degree from the State University of New York at Purchase, a Master of Business Administration Degree from U.C. Davis and a Juris Doctorate from King Hall School of Law, U.C. Davis. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and the California State Bar Association.

Sheung Li is the Director of Product Development and Marketing for SiBEAM, Inc. Li is working to introduce a new generation of 60 GHz semiconductors to the consumer electronics and personal computing markets. His responsibilities at SiBEAM include product management, government affairs, and industry standardization. In his prior roles as Product Line Manager and later as Director at Atheros Communications, he launched every product from the company’s initial 5 GHz chipsets through to the introduction of 802.11n. Mr. Li has also been responsible for customer premises equipment at Geocast Network Systems and home networking at 3Com Corporation. He is the Vice Chair of the IEEE 802.11n standards committee, and holds patents in low power and adaptive radio technologies. Mr. Li received a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and both a M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and a MBA from Stanford University.
 

Alex Limberis, COO, Syabas Technology, Inc.

Alex Limberis, COO, of Syabas Technology. Syabas is a leading provider of IP set top connected entertainment platforms. Syabas’s provides a rich software platform for the connected home entertainment environment and is best known as the maker of the award winning Popcorn Hourtm Networked Media Tank connected set top box. Other products that Syabas provides include the Syabas Media Services Portal and Saya TV live streaming P2P streaming technology platform.

Mr. Limberis is a 20+ year veteran in data communications and media technologies. Prior to joining Syabas he was the Director of Wireless, Broadband and Consumer Electronics in Microsoft’s Digital Media Division where he drove Microsoft’s success in the ubiquitous adoption of Windows Media into the consumer electronics, wireless and broadband ecosystems including, Mobile, IPTV, MP3 players and music and video services such as Verizon, Tivo, Amazon and Netflix. He drove Microsoft to join the DVD Forum and then served on the DVD Forum steering committee which resulted in the adoption of Windows Media into the HD-DVD and Blu-ray standards. Mr. Limberis also served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Dolby Labs where he defined Dolby’s strategy to enter the networked entertainment ecosystems. Previously he was a VP at PMI (acquired by Microsoft), VP of Strategic Marketing at Aureal Semiconductor (acquired by Creative Labs), VP and GM at Korg (Yamaha), and a founder of Ensoniq (acquired by Creative Labs). Mr. Limberis holds several patents in the DSP and media fields. He was a BSEE major at Drexel University and holds an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Ken Lowe, Vice President, Strategic Marketing, Sigma Designs

Lowe serves as vice president, strategic marketing for Sigma Designs. He re-joined the company in May 2000 after serving as Sigma’s product marketing director in the 1980s. Prior to his return, Lowe served as the director of multimedia marketing for Cadence Design Systems and also founded Performix, an electronics company. In addition, he has held several executive marketing positions at Sierra Semiconductor, Chrontel, and Dataquest. Lowe holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University.

Robert Malnati directs Business Development for Motorola's Broadband Solutions Group. His extensive experience in the telecom and data communications industries has resulted in the implementation and delivery of many advanced and innovative products. In his current position, Rob is responsible for developing high value solutions for Video and IP service providers. Prior to joining the company, he was with several successful start up companies focused on the service provider market, including: Leapstone Systems (now Motorola), US LEC Corp.(now PAETEC) and Shareholder.com (now NASDAQ) where he was variously responsible for the development, deployment and positioning of Web, Voice, Data and Internet services.

Wilfred is currently the Director of Platform Strategy & Planning in the Digital Home Group at Intel, where he is responsible for the group’s market segment strategies, and the planning of platforms for the various consumer electronics segments.

Wilfred has been with Intel for 11 years. Prior to his current role, he was the Director of Marketing for the Consumer Electronics Group for 4 years. Wilfred has also held engineering, business & management roles in the Video Products Division, the Embedded Microprocessor Division, and the Data Security Operation at Intel.

From 1999 to 2001, Wilfred founded & ran Vistify, a startup focused on solutions for the digital home and incubated by Panasonic. Prior to rejoining Intel in 2004, Wilfred was a General Manager of Strategic Accounts at Satyam, a leading Indian Software Services firm.

Wilfred holds a BSEE from Bangalore University, India, an MSEE from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Theodore May, VP, Content & Value-added Services, Synacor

Theodore May has served as VP of Content for Synacor since July 2005. Previously, May held various positions, including VP of Broadband at America Online, Inc. He served as Director of Strategic Planning and VP of New Media at Cablevision Systems Corp., and as a VP in the Controller’s Division at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. May also was the Associate Director of Business Planning and Development at CBS Broadcasting, Inc. He holds an M.B.A., New York University and a B.F.A., The Julliard School.

Steve McKay, CEO, Entone Inc.

Steve McKay is the CEO of Entone, the IPTV connected home company. Before Entone, Steve worked with Entone’s founding members in launching the world’s first commercial IP telco video deployment at Hong Kong Telecom.

Steve has been a pioneer in helping cable operators and telcos develop and create new business models for financially successful broadband multimedia and personal television services. For over 20 years, Steve has focused his career on broadband multimedia services for the communications industry. Prior to joining Entone, he served as CEO of Ion Global, a pan-Asian systems integrator. Steve also spent more than 13 years with Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), working with some of the world's leading cable TV operators and telcos on their broadband and interactive television strategies and deployments.

Travis Misterek, Technical Analyst, Best Buy

Travis started his career in Consumer Electronics at the young age of 14.

While still in high school, he started working in the satellite industry installing and repairing C and Ku Band Satellite systems, along with audio/video distribution, structured wiring, and computer networking.

After college, Travis moved to Minneapolis and worked at an installation fulfillment contractor that primarily worked with Best Buy.

Travis came to Best Buy almost 5 years ago, when he started working for Best Buy for New Homes as the Technical Design Manager. In this role, Travis extended his knowledge beyond traditional MATV / DBS systems to PC and connected CE product design, development, and integration.

He has worked with vendors to help create new products for Best Buy, which eventually ended up being sold industry wide.

Travis was also one of the engineers on the Connected Life.Home team, where he helped create the industry’s first Home Automation and Entertainment solution that was self contained in one system. This solution included multi-room video distribution, lighting and HVAC control.

Travis is a CEDIA member and is both Level 1 and Level 2 CEDIA certified.

Travis is currently the Senior Technical Manager on the Connected Digital Solutions team for Best Buy; assisting Merchants with product assortment, as well as voicing the needs of the consumer while promoting standards and interoperability in the areas of Home Control, Security and Networking.

Seale Moorer, CEO, Exceptional Innovation

Considered one of the most aggressive and daring entrepreneurs in the CEDIA market, Moorer believes in building products one way – the right way. He has a track record of success in software and hardware solutions in both the retail and consumer electronics markets.

His previous business Unlimited Solutions was begun in 1994 and within five years, he and longtime friend and colleague Eric Eichensehr had helped to change an industry from its proprietary roots to an open market, where the costs of hardware products had been reduced due to greater competition and availability in the marketplace.

Moorer merged Unlimited Solutions with NSB Retail Systems, a British concern, in 1999. The merger resulted in a company that saw its market capitalization grow almost 10 fold in two short years. Moorer was named a Board member upon the completion of the merger and remained a board member for five years.

The experience of building a strong company in the face of stiff competition provided the experience and drive for Moorer and Eichensehr to form Exceptional Innovation. They agreed that the parallels between the retail point of sale industry and the consumer electronics’ industry were such that their combined experience and technologies available from Microsoft and others could result in a dynamic change to the industry within five years.

Mike Noonen, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, NXP Semiconductors

Michael Noonen is Senior Vice President responsible for Global Sales and Marketing at NXP, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips.

In this role, Michael leads NXP’s worldwide sales & marketing teams, to strengthen market strategy, revenue growth and value creation from new and current customers. Michael will utilize over 20 years of experience in semiconductor and systems sales to drive NXP’s global business development.

Prior to joining NXP, Michael Noonen was senior vice president of worldwide marketing and sales at National Semiconductor. Before that, Michael was vice president of National's Interface, PC & Networking divisions. Previously, he has also served as the director of new markets and technologies at Cisco Systems, Inc. Michael began his career in the semiconductor industry as a field applications engineer for NCR Microelectronics.

Michael graduated from Colorado State University after receiving a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He holds several patents in the areas of IP telephony and video communications.

Bogdan Odulinski has spent more than 15 years leveraging technology to elevate end-user experiences. He manages SupportSoft’s strategy, product direction and partner relationships for all solutions targeted to DSPs, large enterprises, and OEMs. Most recently, he also leads SupportSoft’s go-to-market strategy for its Value-Added Services offering and Dynamic Agent platform.

Frank Ploumen and his team focus on home applications platforms. 'Home Services Gateway' platforms allow service providers to increase revenue beyond triple play by deploying new services in fields such as Security, Media and Smart Energy. Prior to his current role, Frank worked as a Staff Integration Consultant for Alcatel-Lucent’s IPTV Professional Services Group, responsible for AT&T's U-verse Network Architecture. Responsibilities included evaluating 3rd party products in access and home networking and coaching development teams to enhance products. In prior engagements, Frank worked as Senior Systems Architect on DSLAM and Multi-Service Access, defining products and top level design. As DSL subject-matter expert, Frank supported both PLM and Litespan DSL Customers for many years. Frank has over 10 years professional experience in Telecom, starting his career in Alcatel’s Corporate Research Center (Bell-Labs) in Antwerp, Belgium, performing research, advanced development and product innovation for PON and DSL systems. Frank is a member of the Alcatel-Lucent Technical Academy, has published several papers, contributed to standards bodies such as ETSI, ITU and ANSI, and holds multiple patents in the broadband access domain. He also holds a MSEE degree from Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands.
 

Mostafa Reza, Product Line Manager, IP Video Solutions Group, Motorola

As vice president of marketing at Valens, Micha Risling brings 12 years of expertise in marketing and R&D executive roles in established NASDAQ and startup companies, plus vast experience in the global mobile and telecommunications industry.

Previously, Micha was director of marketing and strategy at Saifun Semiconductor, Israel (acquired by Spansion), a leading provider of intellectual property (IP) solutions for the non-volatile memory (NVM) market. He led a group of internal and external teams to define and execute the company's long-term strategy for business and marketing.

Prior to that, he was director of the mobile division product strategy at M-Systems, Israel (acquired by SanDisk), a world leader in flash memory addressing the mobile, portable and embedded markets. Micha also previously served as director of technical customer integration at M-Systems, managing a group of technical experts (System/HW/SW) responsible for the integration of M-Systems' products at leading mobile handset manufacturers, such as Nokia, HTC, Motorola, Samsung and Sony.

Prior to that, he was a senior VLSI engineer at semiconductor companies OptiX Networks, Conexant and LSI Logic.

Micha received an executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Business through Northwestern University in Chicago and the Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University. He also holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Tel Aviv University.

Anthony Rodio joined SupportSoft as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer before moving into his current role as Chief Operating Officer for SupportSoft’s consumer remote tech support brand, support.com. He joined SupportSoft from SideStep, where he was the vice president of product management Prior to SideStep, Rodio was vice president of marketing at StubHub.com, a fast-growing consumer online marketplace for event tickets. Rodio has also held senior positions at Microsoft, where he was responsible for MSN consumer marketing, and at Amazon.com, where he was general manager for the company's zShops and the Computer Store, following brand management experience at Procter & Gamble. Rodio holds a B.S.B.A. from University of Oregon, an M.S. in Economics from Portland State University and an M.B.A. from Washington University.

Avner Ronen, CEO & Co-Founder, Boxee

Ronen was recently named one of Rolling Stone's "Agents of Change" for 2009. Prior to starting boxee, Mr. Ronen was the Head of Corporate Development and M&A for Comverse, Inc., a leading provider of software and service to Telecom service providers. Ronen was responsible for acquisitions valued at $450M, which were key to the company's evolution from a Voicemail company to a Billing and VAS provider.

Mr. Ronen joined Comverse in 2002 when they acquired Odigo, a company he co-founded in 1998. Odigo was one of the early Instant Messaging services on the web serving over 8M users worldwide.

Prior to Odigo Mr. Ronen served for 4.5 years in the Israeli Defense Force in the special computer unit, MAMRAM.

Vibha Rustagi is the founding partner, President and Chief Executive Officer of itaas, Inc. itaas provides an innovative and compelling suite of video on demand (VOD) products, and is the only provider of end-to-end iTV solutions in the digital video industry, serving broadband operators, cellular providers, set-top manufacturers, application and content developers, middleware and OS providers. itaas’ team of architects and application experts continue to solve complex digital infrastructure challenges, helping customers navigate through the convergence of video, voice, data and wireless technologies.

Ms. Rustagi is responsible for expanding itaas' leadership position in the industry and provides strategic direction and business development expertise. With a prestigious list of more than 100 customers and with products deployed in 50 cable systems across North America, itaas prides itself in understanding and addressing ongoing challenges for its customers by staying ahead of the technology curve.

She has more than 20 years of cable television related experience, including strategic business development, marketing, and product management, engineering and sales for domestic and international markets. Ms. Rustagi earned seven patents during her tenure at Cisco (formerly known as Scientific Atlanta).

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from The University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Business Administration from Georgia State University. Ms. Rustagi is an active member of The Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing, The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and is a Mentor Member of the The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE).

Ms. Rustagi was featured amongst the "Top 40 under 40 Up and Comers" by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and was selected as one of the top 100 Most Influential Minorities in Cable in 2005 and 2006. She is a recipient of the University of Pittsburgh’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award in 2006. Multichannel News selected Ms. Rustagi as one of the “Women to Watch 2007” for her creative and concrete contributions she has made to the growth of itaas and the growth of Pay TV, broadband and telecommunications industries. The Russel Athletic Shootout honored her amongst the 10 most influential and successful businesswomen in Atlanta, and most recently, the Atlanta Magazine selected her amongst the top 50 most influential international Atlantans.

Sachin Sathaye is responsible for product and solutions marketing of Cisco’s video and connected home solution portfolio to Service Providers worldwide. His specific focus is on marketing of advanced video strategies for telco, cable and broadcasters and includes Cisco products such as CDS-IS, video head end, set top box and routing infrastructure.
 

Sachin joined Cisco in 2000 and prior to joining CMO as a solution marketing manager, he worked six years in Advanced Services for network consulting supporting Cisco’s enterprise and SP accounts. He has led advanced services delivery management and business development during his tenure in customer advocacy with emphasis on enterprise and SP network design consultancy, operational efficiency and fault management encompassing technologies such as, routing, MPLS, security, VoIP and network management systems. Sachin has more than 15 years of experience in the telecom/datacom industry spanning engineering, support, business consulting and marketing. Sachin has B.S. in Computer Science and MBA.
 

Russ Schafer brings twenty years experience in product and corporate marketing to his role as Senior Director of Product Marketing for Yahoo! Connected TV. Russ has global product marketing responsibility including consumer insights, segmentation, concept development, branding, pricing, positioning and compelling “out of the box” consumer experiences. Yahoo! Connected TV and TV Widgets are at the leading edge of the Web’s intersection with the “10-foot experience” of television viewing.

Prior to joining Yahoo!, Russ held positions as Director of Marketing, Director of Technology Management, Director of Business Development and Operations, and Regional Sales Manager for Intel, Sybase, and IBM. He has marketed a broad range of hardware, software, and Internet products and services to consumers and businesses.

His responsibilities spanned the entire product lifecycle, including research, design, development, branding, pricing, manufacturing, inventory management, distribution and intellectual property.

Russ’ experience as an entrepreneur included time as Director of Product and Business Management for an Intel-funded startup that developed a mobile wireless and e-commerce software platform and service. He was responsible for market development and business management including market research, pricing, user interface design, e-commerce transactions, e-coupon advertising, and a multi-million dollar P&L.

Russ holds an MBA in international business from Duke University and a BBA in Management from Texas A&M University.

Rick Schwartz, Product Manager, TwonkyMedia Manager, PacketVideo

Rick Schwartz is the product manager for PacketVideo's (PV) DLNA media manager software for consumers. Prior to joining PV in later 2008, Rick logged a rich history in the innovative delivery of digital media. Six years before Apple sold their first song online, Rick was product manager of a team at Liquid Audio that created the first secure online music distribution system with content from several major labels. Following his tenure at Liquid Audio, Rich joined Gateway where he was in charge of product marketing for Desktop PCs and launched hundreds of unique products and services including Media Center PCs, the Gateway/Napster Music Service, Gateway MP3 Jukebox, Gateway Rhapsody Music Service and Gateway Music Vault – an industry-first program that preloaded thousands of songs on millions of PCs. Rick works from PV's headquarters in San Diego.

Loren Shade is Vice President of Marketing at Allegro Software Development Corporation – a premier provider of Internet software toolkits for embedded applications including UPnP™/DLNA®, device management and machine to machine communications. With 20+ years in the embedded industry, Loren has worked with many industrial, military and commercial customers to adopt standards based communications into their embedded products. A long standing networking evangelist, Loren has delivered presentations on various networking topics to customers, partners and technology forums and is excited about enabling connectivity to intelligent embedded devices.

Prior to Allegro, Loren held various management and senior level positions with Interpeak, Wind River Systems, Integrated Systems and Battelle Memorial Institute. Loren holds degrees in Systems Analysis and Physics from Miami University, Industrial Systems Engineering and Feedback and Control from The Ohio State University and Professional Fellow from Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead School of Management.

Parag Sheth, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Hillcrest Labs

As VP of Marketing, Parag oversees Hillcrest’s brand and market positioning strategy. He brings more than 15 years of sales and marketing experience to Hillcrest. Much of Parag’s experience has been focused on launching innovative products into the global markets for start-ups and multi-national companies. His background includes launching companies and products in the North American and European markets, building brands and repositioning companies to raise visibility.

Most recently, Parag was Senior Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Spirent Communications. Prior to Spirent, he advised clients on marketing and brand strategies. As VP of Marketing at Vibrant Solutions (now TEOCO) and Woodwind Communications (now Verilink) he launched new product categories. At Siemens where he was the VP of Marketing he launched its next generation product line and led the solutions division. Prior to Siemens, he was the Director of Sales at Data Labs (now Lucent). He began his career in sales at TTC (now Acterna).

Parag holds a BSEE from State University of New York at Buffalo.

Eric Smith, CTO, Control4

Eric Smith is Control4's chief technology officer and one of the company's co-founders, Eric Smith is responsible for setting the organization's technology vision and guiding the development of home automation solutions that are practical, affordable, and easy to use.

Eric brings more than 15 years of technology and home automation experience to Control4. Previously, he co-founded iBahn, the worldwide leader in broadband services for business travelers. Eric developed the intellectual property that made it possible to simplify Internet protocols and offer fast, convenient broadband service to travelers staying in more than 175,000 hotel rooms in 200 cities around the world. Prior to iBahn, Eric co-founded PHAST Corporation, which quickly became the leading control system in the residential control systems market.

Eric holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Brigham Young University.

Jason Spero, VP & Managing Director NA, AdMob

As Vice President & Managing Director of North America for AdMob, Jason Spero is responsible for the company's strategy and operations in North America. This includes leading the company's sales, business development and marketing teams. Jason brings more than seven years of experience in product, marketing and general management functions in the mobile space. Before joining AdMob, Jason was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Redpoint Ventures where he focused on mobile applications, services and infrastructure. Prior to Redpoint, Jason was Senior Vice President of Marketing at Digital Chocolate where he was responsible for worldwide product, marketing and distribution. Previously Jason was a Director of Product Management at Openwave where he led their Client and Instant Messaging product teams. Jason holds a BA from Amherst College and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Kevin Spier, Director of Business Development, Bunchball

Kevin Spier is an experienced entrepreneur, educator and business development professional. At Bunchball, Kevin is working with clients like Meredith Corporation, Comcast and NBC’s The Office to cost-effectively measure and drive consumer behaviors that increases engagement and revenue on their websites. Prior to joining Bunchball, Kevin ran the sales group for M3iworks, a web design and development company. He founded and operated his own business, Spier & Associates, for seven years before taking a teaching sabbatical to educate children in and around Detroit.

Singu Srinivas, VP, Sales and Marketing, Radialpoint

Prior to coming on board as Vice President at RP, Singu co-founded HiWired following twelve years of leadership experience in consumer electronics, telecommunications and media, where he witnessed the pain and frustration felt by personal technology users who lacked convenient access to support. Prior to launching HiWired, Singu was a relationship partner leading the Services Strategy practice at IBM Business Consulting Services. While at IBM, Singu advised electronics clients like Philips, Kodak, Cisco and IBM. He also served as the director of strategy development for IBM Global Services, Big Blue’s $48B services arm. In addition, Singu’s background includes four years working with start-up technology and content companies in Europe.

A native New Yorker, Singu has adopted Boston as home, where he spends much of his leisure time restoring his family's 135-year-old, historic house. Singu is a 1996 MBA graduate of the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. He also holds an MS degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University.

Bill Stanley, Director, Operations Solutions, Telcordia

Bill Stanley is the Director of Home Network Assurance for Telcordia Technologies. He has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, including product line management, solutions development and alliances/partnering. In his present role, Bill is leading the development of solutions that Telcordia brings to communications service providers to assist them with their network evolution strategies by leveraging their legacy investments toward new networks and new services. Bill has participated in numerous TM Forum projects including early development of the SID model plus the formulation and delivery of Catalyst showcase projects. Bill began his career with the management of network deployment projects throughout North America and the Asia/Pacific region and in recent years has remained involved in international markets including Europe and Latin America.

Jan Steenkamp, as a founding member of Irdeto and expert in pay media, leads market development for Irdeto in the Americas. Having held key management positions within the Naspers Group, MIH Limited (NIHL), since 1985, Mr. Steenkamp most recently served as CEO of Entriq, based in San Diego, CA and a division of MIH Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Naspers. The business of Entriq has now been merged with that of Irdeto. Entriq has a full, end-to-end solution from content ingestion, syndication to multiple platforms and the ability to secure and monetize audio and video content for broadband, mobile and PCTV consumers worldwide via the internet. Its clients include some of the world’s largest content, network and service providers in the pay media industry including MTV Networks, WWE, NBC Universal, Inc., ESPN, NFL, NPG (Prince’s lifestyle website), UFC and the International Olympic Committee.

Before joining Entriq, Mr. Steenkamp was CEO of MIHL’s technology division and Chairman of OpenTV Corp. Prior to this, he was CEO of OpenTV, where he was instrumental in the establishment of the company as the leading provider of cost-effective solutions for the delivery of digital interactive services to television viewers around the world. He lead the successful IPO of OpenTV in 1999 driving one of the fastest first day gains for a company on the NASDAQ. Today OpenTV is the recognized leader in interactive television with more than 100 million devices in the field operating with OpenTV software.

Prior to moving to the United States to run OpenTV, Steenkamp was one of the founders of Irdeto in the Netherlands where he was the Commercial Director of Irdeto Consultants in The Netherlands. During this time he held various management and new business initiative positions at both Irdeto and the MIH Group from 1985 to 1997. Initiating the introduction of pay television in Greece, managed the project team to establish pay television in Italy, worked with Shinawatra in Thailand to establish digital television, worked with Galaxy in Australia to launch the first DVB digital DTH platform in the world, and was active in the acquisition and development of the European Nethold operations in The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Before moving to the Netherlands to start Irdeto Steenkamp was part of the pioneer team at the Nasper Group who started the first Pay Television service in South Africa. Mnet was one of the first Pay Televison services to be established outside of the United States in the early eighties. Mnet has gone on to be one of the most successful digital platforms covering South Africa as well as most countries in Africa.

Steenkamp, grew up in South Africa where he was a keen rower and rugby player, he studied electrical engineering at Witwatersrand Technikon and started his career as a video engineer at the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation.

Today, Steenkamp resides in California and when he is not traveling to the various customers and operations of Irdeto in America he enjoys cycling some of the most beautiful bicycle routes in California.

Rob Tobias is the Director of Market Development for the emerging consumer electronics networking standard called LiquidHD.   Mr. Tobias is responsible for the ecosystems development, consortium formation and launch of LiquidHD which is a simple suite of protocols which adds the intelligence to consumer electronics devices to enable whole home HD media and applications distribution over commodity IP networking and HDMI 1.4.  Prior to this, Mr. Tobias was the Marketing Director for Silicon Image’s Intellectual Property licensing business which has become a Top 5 IP licensor in the world.   

Prior to joining Silicon Image, Mr. Tobias was Director of Marketing at Mirra, an automatic file backup and remote access appliance company, which was acquired by Seagate.  In addition, Mr. Tobias worked or consulted for IBM Microelectronics, Texas Instruments, C-Cube and Intellon. 

Mr. Tobias started his career as a Design Engineer developing a Viterbi Decoder ASIC for satellite communications systems at Standford Telecom and then joined LSI Logic where he started his marketing career with the MIPS embedded processor family which was designed into the first Sony Playstation. 

Mr. Tobias earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from UC Davis and an MBA from Santa Clara University.
 

Steve Tranter, VP Interactive and Broadband, NDS

Steve Tranter is responsible for the design, delivery and support of NDS's interactive products and systems for North and South America. He relocated to NDS's Newport Beach office in California six years ago from the NDS headquarters in London. Steve has a degree in Physics from the University of Leeds in the UK and has experience in systems design and integration from a variety of industries, including analytical scientific instrumentation, photographic reproduction, database technology and digital broadcasting. Steve has been with NDS for ten years and has been involved in the design and implementation of some of the world's largest and most advanced digital broadcast systems.

Edgar joined ActiveVideo in 2008 and is responsible for overseeing the messaging and marketing of ActiveVideo® as a business- and consumer-facing brand. Edgar’s extensive media and consumer products experience includes executive positions with HBO and DIRECTV, and as general manager of THUMP, an agency that develops and markets branded content through a combination of traditional and interactive platforms. With HBO, Edgar served as vice president, new media and business development for the programmer’s international group, with specific responsibility for expanding linear and new media properties into new territories. Edgar previously had served as vice president, marketing for HBO, driving and managing international marketing and communications efforts for the HBO and Cinemax brands. With DIRECTV from 1999-2004, Edgar first served as director, marketing and advertising with a focus on supporting the satellite provider’s international programming within United States multicultural markets. Later, he served as director, advertising and brand management with responsibility for DirecTV’s domestic brands and associated markets.

Edgar began his career in advertising in the agency world, working on blue-chip brands such as Ford, Miller Brewing, Mobil Oil, Wesson Oil, and several other accounts. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from UCLA.

Dr. Wacks has been a pioneer in establishing the home systems industry and a management advisor to more than 100 clients worldwide, ranging from startups to the Fortune 500. His business focus includes home and building systems, utility customer services, and digital entertainment networks. Corporate managers depend on Dr. Wacks to identify business opportunities in emerging markets with clear and practical advice relevant for product development and market positioning.

Dr. Wacks was appointed by the United States Department of Energy to the 13-member GridWise Architecture Council to guide utilities toward a smart grid for reliable electricity. The Consumer Electronics Association chose Dr. Wacks to chair the international committee (ISO/IEC) establishing world standards for home and building automation. For more information, please visit www.kenwacks.com.

Ian joined ProVision in 2008 and heads up all business development, including all sales and marketing of the AXAR 1000 HD WiFi CE Product. Ian has over 20 years experience in CEO and senior executive sales, marketing and business development positions for both start-up and large corporate consumer electronics, semiconductors and software companies in Europe and the U.S.A. This includes with Alcatel, as Strategic Business Development Director and as Director of Sales & Marketing for Westell ‘s European Operation where he was responsible for business development of both ADSL CPE and Enterprise VoIP product lines. For eight years he was the CEO, Founder and owner of DIVA Communications Technology Ltd, a communications software licensing and design services company that he ran until its acquisition by Alcatel in 1999; CEO of MND Semiconductors in Paris, France, an H.264 AVC Video Codec company, for which he arranged an M&A with DxO Labs in 2007; Technical Director for MIPS Technologies in Europe and European Marketing Manager for Rockwell’s modem products. As an electronics engineer, specialising in Signal Processing for HF Communication systems, Ian spent eight years at Marconi Space & Defence Systems Ltd and holds MSc in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the University of Portsmouth.

Fred Wang, General Partner, Trinity Ventures

Fred has 15 years of experience in venture capital. He currently invests in infrastructure, with a focus on digital media, and on specific sectors in cleantech. He is currently involved with 21ViaNet, Aryaka Networks, Avaak, ClearLeap, Exalt Communications, MicroAzure, Netcordia, Nokeena, and Soliant Energy. He has led investments in successful companies such as Aruba Networks (ARUN), Illuminet (ILUM), Modulus Video (acquired by Motorola), Network Access Solutions (NASC), Orative (acquired by Cisco), SevenSpace (acquired by Sun), Speedera Networks (acquired by Akamai), and Tut Systems (TUTS). Prior to joining Trinity Ventures in 1999, he was a partner at Spectrum Equity Investors, making investments in infrastructure companies. Previously, Fred worked at The Boston Consulting Group working with clients such as Pacific Gas & Electric, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), AT&T, and Apple Computer. Before BCG, Fred held operating positions in the New Technologies Group at Pacific Bell and at Intuit. Fred is the President of Western Association of Venture Capital (WAVC), an advisor to the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), and is actively involved with the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Northern California and the Stanford Challenge.

Lior Weiss, VP Marketing, Celeno

Lior is responsible for marketing, product and business development at Celeno Communications. Celeno is the first company to develop and demonstrate a solution capable of distributing multiple HD video streams with full home coverage based on the ubiquitous, standard WiFi home networking technology. Celeno’s innovative WiFi silicon components power home-networking equipment that enables a full home distribution of carrier-grade HD video streams with no new wires installed.

Lior has held multiple senior positions at AudioCodes (NASDAQ: AUDC) and Seabridge (a Siemens-Nokia company), including roles in business development, product marketing and product management. He most recently served as VP Marketing, Media Gateways for AudioCodes. While there Lior had the overall responsibility for Audiocodes Carrier-grade Media gateways product line in North America. In addition Lior developed, negotiated and oversaw business relationships with strategic OEM partners such as Avaya and Microsoft. Mr. Weiss received his B.Sc. EE and MBA degrees from Tel Aviv University.

Stephen White, Director, Business Development, VIZIO

Stephen White is the Director of Business Development at Vizio, Inc., where he is responsible for partner relations and strategic technology acquisition. Vizio, America’s #1 manufacturer of flat panel HDTVs, is developing the Connected HDTV platform that gives viewers unprecedented choice and access to Internet-based content streamed directly to their VIZIO HDTV.

A veteran business development professional, Stephen’s past experience has focused on bringing digital entertainment solutions to market. In his current role, Stephen has created numerous partnerships with leading entertainment properties that will provide an exciting experience for consumers when the connected TV platform is launched this fall. In addition, Stephen also works with technology companies to differentiate the VIZIO experience.

Prior to joining VIZIO, Stephen worked for nine years in a variety of roles at Cisco Systems, Inc. including a business development role in the digital entertainment group at the Linksys division.

Ken Wirt, Vice President Consumer Marketing, Cisco Systems

Ken Wirt is currently Vice President of Consumer Marketing for Cisco. From 2001 to 2006 Ken was Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Palm where he developed and launched the Zire and Tungsten line of handhelds as well as the Treo 650 and Treo 700 line of smartphones. In the late 90’s, Ken was the founder and CEO of Riffage.com, a leading independent music site whose name, riffage, was recently entered as a new word in the Oxford English Dictionary. Previously Ken held senior marketing positions at Diamond Multimedia, Apple, NEC and Atari. Ken has pioneered the development and launch of several new categories of electronic products including: home computers (Atari), CD-ROM drives (NEC), the Newton PDA (Apple), and the Rio MP3 player (Diamond). Ken has an MBA from Stanford and an undergraduate degree in “The Psychology of Kinetic Media” from the University of Michigan.

Steve joined Synerchip in 2006 as the Sr. Director of Product Planning where he is currently responsible for DiiVA marketing. Prior to joining the company, Steve held various marketing management positions at National Semiconductor (NASDAQ: NSM) and Silicon Image (NASDAQ: SIMG) working on display and storage interface standards and products related to DVI, Fibre Channel, LVDS, PPDS, RSDS, Serial ATA, and USB. Steve holds a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University, an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley.

Scot Zarkiewicz, CEO, SingleClick Systems

Mr. Zarkiewicz has been successful in bringing successful technology startups to market. His first technology venture, CSG was acquired in 1998 by Cabletron Systems, a public company. Zarkiewicz left Cabletron Systems in 1999 to found 3NO Systems which later changed its name to Issanni Communications. Issanni Communications designed and built Subscriber Management System (SMS) products. During this time Mr. Zarkiewicz was instrumental in developing several innovative pieces of technology that dramatically simplified the creation of Broadband Services. Zarkiewicz served as the companies CTO and Founder until it was acquired by UT Starcom, a public company, in 2002. Mr. Zarkiewicz served as the Director of Engineering during his tenure at UT Starcom. During this time period Zarkiewicz successfully integrated the Issanni product line into the UT Starcom product family, cross pollinating the Issanni technology into the UT Starcom DSLAM product line. Mr. Zarkiewicz left UT Starcom in 2003 to start SingleClick Systems. Zarkiewicz’s experience in DSLAM and SMS products led him to the realization that there was a need for a sophisticated network diagnosis and repair tool for subscriber’s PCs’. With its first two products, Wireless Network Ignition and HomeNet Manager, SingleClick Systems has created a robust toolset that dramatically simplifies the creation and maintenance of home and small office networks. Building on the success of its first two products SingleClick has developed additional applications in the Wireless Security, Data Backup, and Remote Access product spaces. Mr. Zarkiewicz is currently serving as the CEO and Founder of SingleClick Systems Inc.

After spending a long career in finance and investments with a focus on the communications sector, Eric Zimits joined Granite Ventures in 2000 to focus on investing in early-stage communications and components companies.

Prior to Granite, Eric was Managing Director and head of the Communications Research Group at Hambrecht & Quist (later Chase H&Q), where he sponsored several venture capital investments, including: Amber Networks, acquired by Nokia; InterNAP (NASDAQ: INAP); Paragon Software, acquired by Openwave; WavTrace, acquired by Harris Corporation; and VocalData, acquired by Tekelec.

Prior to H&Q, Eric launched a research effort in the telecommunications and wireless industries as a General Partner at Volpe, Welty & Company. He also held analyst positions at Rauscher Pierce Refsnes and Morgan Keegan & Company.

Eric’s years of experience tracking the communications industry teamed with his financial savvy enables him to guide portfolio companies in making sound business decisions based on a deep understanding of the marketplace. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors for AirTight Networks, Percello, Quantance and RipCode. He has held numerous board positions including Amber Networks, Paragon Software, VocalData, Britestream Networks, Lotus Integrated, RF Magic and Speakeasy.

Eric has been invited to participate on a number of recent panels and keynotes, including the following selection since 2005: Telecom Industry Association Small Business Forum at CISCO (2009), RSA (2008), Cal Poly Wireless Telecommunications Summit (2008), VON (2006, 2008), Wireless Communications Association (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), Pulver at CES (2007), Purdue Silicon Valley Symposia (2007), ATCA Summit (2006), wVOIP (2005, 2006), Pulver’s IP4IT (2005), and Dow Jones Wireless Ventures Conference (2005). In 2006, Eric was an advisor to IBF’s First Annual Mobile and Wireless Conference. He is also frequently interviewed by the press including Inc., Dow Jones, Red Herring, eWeek, and Forbes.

Eric received a B.S.E. from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business.

Bill Ablondi is an information technology market analyst with 25 years experience advising computer and related peripheral manufacturers, software publishers, communication service, and Internet providers. He has directed syndicated advisory services and related custom consulting activities for several leading research firms in addition to Parks Associates.

Bill began his information technology career as an engineer and business development manager at Texas Instruments. He holds a BS in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Columbia University with a concentration in management science, emphasizing operations research and finance.

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: Home Systems, Home Controls, Home Security, Entertainment Systems, Home Systems Integration Channel, Home Builders

Jayant Dasari joined Parks Associates following a career in telecommunications with both service providers and equipment manufacturers. In his role as a Research Analyst, Jayant primarily covers access services with specific focus on residential television and broadband segments on a worldwide basis. Jayant’s research interests also include mobile services and fixed-mobile convergence within the digital home.

He earned his B.Tech in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Nagarjuna University and his MS in Telecommunications from University of Louisiana. He also has an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Industry Expertise: Broadband and television infrastructure and services

Tricia Parks is the founder and CEO of Parks Associates, a market analyst and research company dedicated to providing meaningful information and counsel to companies offering technology-based products aimed at improving people's lives. She presents worldwide on consumer trends, market requirements, and industry structure, with an eye to meshing visionary and progressive ideas to consumer needs and wants.

Parks Associates hosts, in partnership with CEA, CONNECTIONS™, an international conference and showcase for the digital home hosted in the U.S., and CONNECTIONS™ Europe, hosted in Europe and focusing on market opportunities for digital products and services in the many nations of Europe. Tricia Parks also developed the Relevancy Theory, a forecasting model for sales across a broad range of digital electronic products and services.

Tricia has served on a variety of industry boards including CEA's Home Networking and Information Technology division, the National Research Council's Committee for a Partnership to Assess Technology for Housing (PATH), the AMD Board of Global Consumer Advocacy, and CABA. Tricia Parks has a BA from Sweet Briar College and graduate studies from the University of Texas.

Kurt Scherf studies developments in home networks, residential gateways, digital entertainment, technology development in the housing market, and residential and building management and controls. Kurt is the sole author or contributing author/analyst to more than 60 research reports and studies produced by Parks Associates since 1998.

Kurt joined Parks Associates following a career in political research and multi-tenant dwelling management. He earned his BA from The University of Iowa.

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: Home Networks & Residential Gateways, Home Networking Media (Wi-Fi, UWB, HomePlug, HomePNA, MoCA, etc.), Media Center PCs, Set-top Boxes, Networked Consumer Electronics, Consumer Storage, Media Server Hardware and Software, Consumers and Digital Entertainment, Television Services, Broadband Video, Digital Home Customer Support Issues

Stuart Sikes is the president of Parks Associates and is responsible for providing Parks Associates’ clients with a business relationship that complements their strategic marketing activities.

Stuart has served technology companies for over twenty years, designing technical service, software, and hardware solutions for companies ranging from global semiconductor manufacturers to one of the nation’s largest airlines. In his positions with companies including AT&T, NCR, OpenConnect Systems, and Intelligraphics, Stuart’s roles have included sales, product marketing, marketing communications, and executive management.

Stuart and the Parks Associates’ team have worked closely with the world’s leading semiconductor, software, telecom equipment, and entertainment companies, assisting these companies with their understanding of consumer adoption of new technologies.

Stuart holds an MBA from SMU with a concentration in strategic marketing and a BA in economics from Vanderbilt University.

Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates

Harry Wang studies the consumer electronics and entertainment service industries with a focus on portable CE hardware, software, and associated applications and services. He is also the lead analyst for Parks Associates’ digital health research program. Harry has presented his research in numerous industry events including CES, Digital Hollywood, Photo Marketing Association Annual Show, American Telemedicine Association Annual Show, and the World Health Congress as well as Parks Associates’ CONNECTIONS™ conferences.

Harry earned his MS degree in marketing research from the University of Texas at Arlington. He also holds an MBA degree in finance from Texas Christian University and a BA degree in international business from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, P.R. China.

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: Digital Health Products and Services, Digital Media and Advertising Technologies, Connected Home Software and Hardware Requirements, Fixed and Portable Consumer Electronics, Digital Imaging Products and Services